


When I'm Holding Your Wheel All I Hear Is Your Gear

by aberdeen2024



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody - Fandom, Queen - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Bohemian Rhapsody, Lots of kissing, M/M, Queen - Freeform, and crying, and hickeys :o, blowjobs:), hardzello, joe mazzello - Freeform, joseph mazzello - Freeform, mazzardy, prom bbys, protective ben!, sorry no cardboard here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-02 10:52:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16785499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aberdeen2024/pseuds/aberdeen2024
Summary: Ben’s super cool and popular and Joe’s a nerd but they make it work and they’re super cute together.Part II up now!twitter:@vanilladrpeps hmu with those recommendations and whatnot





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Chris Martin](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Chris+Martin).



“Hey, pretty boy,” Joe heard them call out to him as he walked past the back of the football field. He picked up his pace just slightly, trying not to make it obvious that he was actually terrified of the group of 4 gathered near the chain-link fence.

“It’s not nice to ignore people.” The tallest of the group unexpectedly grabbed onto his shoulder, swinging him around toward the fence, shoving him against it.

“Let go of me, asshole. I’m just trying to get home,” Joe pleaded with the plain-looking (except for his name embroidered on the front) letterman jacket-wearing student, pinning him back by the shoulder. The other three stood back, behind their “leader” it seemed, probably keeping an eye out for any faculty wandering the area.

“I thought you’d like being pinned down by a guy.” He smirked at Joe, who was nearly in tears at this point. He couldn’t help that he cried easily.

“Just let him go, before the teachers start coming out this way,” someone piped up from the back. Joe couldn’t tell who it was through his now blurred vision as he fought unsuccessfully to hide his panic.

The boy hesitantly let go of Joe’s shoulder, but stayed face to face with him in an act of further intimidation. Joe purposefully pushed his shoulder against him as he started to walk away, which was a stupid idea he realized as soon as he saw the fist flying at his face. A sharp pain spread through his nose which quickly dulled and translated into dizziness as he stumbled back against the fence, wrapping his fingers around the metal for stability. He could feel the warm blood running down toward his lips and through his tear soaked eyes, someone reaching for his arm, offering to pull him back up. He cowered from them similar to a frightened dog, quickly picked up his stuff he had dropped, and took off toward his house, noticing as he left that it was Ben standing there, looking nearly as wounded as he did.

——

He couldn’t figure out why Ben would do that right in front of the rest of the group. The pain was hindering his thought process, but even as he woke up the next morning, a nice black eye plastered on his face, he still couldn’t understand. He knew he would see Ben that afternoon in their shared economics class, but it was unlikely that they’d even acknowledge each other, not unlike any other day. Joe felt it safe to assume that him offering his hand was only another continuation of the harassment, and to just forget it even happened.

Unsurprisingly, Joe did see Ben in economics. They “accidentally” made eye contact at one point, which he realized he was worried about for nothing. The throbbing pain from his nose was all he could focus on, along with how well his mom’s concealer was holding up. He knew that by showing up to school with a black eye would cause all kinds of questioning from his teachers and he really didn’t wanna bring any more attention to himself than he had to.

—

“How’s your face doing?” Ben hurried to catch up with Joe, walking alongside the back of the school after their class got out. Joe had had a feeling he was being followed, but out of fear he refused to slow down for whoever it was.

“How do you think it’s doing? I got a fucking black eye.” Joe stared straight ahead, denying him more attention than he had to.

“Have you iced it?”

“Yeah.” Joe realized that Ben probably wasn’t going away anytime soon now that he was trying to make small talk. “Do you need something?”

“I was just worried they’d try to mess with you again. I don’t know why they did that yesterday. They seem like nice guys normally...I’m sorry that happened.” Ben’s voice trailed off. “I’m sorry I didn’t do anything, either.” 

Joe could hear the overwhelming shame in his voice.

“I’m used to it. But I really can take care of myself just fine.” They both knew that was a lie.

“Well, can I not just walk with you, then?”

“I can’t stop you.”

They walked the rest of the way in silence, with the exception of Ben’s occasional humming trying to lighten the mood. Once they reached Joe’s driveway, both boys stopped, awkwardly staring at the house ahead of them.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. I hope your eye starts feeling better,” Ben broke the silence first.

“Thanks.” Joe stared down at his shoes. Ben obviously felt guilty about what had happened. Joe didn’t care right now. He just wanted an ice pack.

——

Joe could hear the familiar footsteps coming up behind him the following day. 

“Look, Ben,” he called out, turning around to face the blonde boy, “I’m not mad or holding anything against you if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Really?”

Joe nodded, then hesitated, unsure if he’d regret what he was about to say. “But if you still wanna come with me...”

“Come on, then,” Ben flashed one of his charming smiles and took off ahead, trying to hide his overeagerness.

——

It had been about a week since they started walking together. They walked up to his house as was routine and said their short and simple goodbyes. Joe watched for a second as Ben headed off toward his home a couple streets away, then reluctantly decided to do something crazy (relatively crazy).

“Do you-do you wanna come in?”

Ben, standing barely past the end of the driveway, bit back his smile, forcing himself to look calm and collected, as he turned around to face the shorter boy.

“Are you sure?”

Joe motioned toward the front door with his head, turning around and heading for it, Ben following closely behind.

“Are you hungry? We have chips. We probably have some other stuff. I can go look.”

“I’m fine for now, thanks.” Ben set his stack of binders and books down on the dining room table. “I like your house.”

“Thanks. Well, my rooms upstairs...”

Joe felt a bit uneasy going alone upstairs with someone he hardly knew, but he felt he could trust him enough at this point.

—

“No way. You play drums?” Ben noticed the drum kit in the corner once they got upstairs.

“Used to. When I was in middle school. Do you play?”

“A bit.”

Ben pulled the drum sticks from the holder hanging from the front. He played the one song he knew by memory, while Joe sat on the edge of the bed, hands shoved into his hoodie pocket, absent mindedly admiring Ben’s hair the entire time. It was one of those things he never took notice of in class. Of course, there was really no way of knowing how delicate pieces of Ben’s hair would look falling into his face every time he hit a cymbal. Joe forced reality back upon himself, pushing the daydreaming aside as soon as Ben finished.

“I play bass.”

Ben looked up from the snare he was messing with, a curious look on his face, moving his attention over to where Joe was now pointing, in the opposite corner of the room a bass guitar balanced against the wall.

“Play something.”

“Maybe later,” Joe knew he wouldn’t be able to play half as good as usual due to the shakiness of his hands brought on by the nervousness.

“Actually, you wanna see something cool?” Joe walked over to the window, unlocking it and pulling it open. He motioned for Ben to follow as he climbed out onto the roof.

“Wow. I bet I could see my house from here,” Ben sat beside the boy on the ledge directly beneath his window, facing out towards the street, allowing them to see nearly half a mile ahead of them.

“It’s even better once it’s dark. When you can see all the stars.”

The two boys sat in silence for a while. It was a comfortable silence that neither of them minded.

“Why don’t you tell someone,” Ben finally spoke up, the sympathetic tone in his voice painfully obvious to Joe.

Joe found himself staring at his shoes, as he found himself doing a lot lately when he felt backed into a corner. “I’m worried it’ll make things worse,” he paused, then blurted out, “Why do you hang out with people like that? You’re so much better than them, Ben.”

Ben couldn’t answer. He was at a loss for words mostly because he didn’t know the answer and he had been trying to evade the reality that his “friends” were actually complete dicks.

“You’re right,” Ben finally admitted, turning his attention away from the houses ahead and onto Joe, with his wispy, auburn hair falling down across his forehead, swaying every time a breeze hit. He continued, “If any of those guys try to lay another hand on you just tell me. I’ll make sure to settle it. And that whole pretty boy thing..I swear if it happens again...”

Both boys froze in place, almost as if they had the same thought run through their minds simultaneously. They leaned over towards each other lowly, until their lips inevitably met. Ben finally noticed just how delicate the boy’s features were, as peppermint flavored, chapstick covered lips pressed against his. He instinctively closed his eyes, allowing for the rest of his senses to heighten, suddenly noticing the touch of Joe’s nose pressing against his own, the sound of Joe’s heart seemingly beating out of his chest, and peaches, was it? Joe somehow smelled of peaches. It was lovely.

Joe pulled back after what felt like several minutes, neither saying anything at first, both still in shock.

“I should be getting home,” Ben stood up offering a hand to the younger boy.

“I’m gonna stay out here a bit longer. See you tomorrow?”

“Of course. Bye, Joe.” Ben started for the still open bedroom window. Saying the boy’s name left a sweet taste in his mouth and the butterflies in his stomach overly excited.

“I actually don’t mind being called pretty boy,” Joe commented, keeping his eyes fixed on the empty road ahead, “coming from the right person that is.” 

“I’ll try to remember that.”

——

Over the next few weeks, they had gotten into the habit of going over to Joe’s house every other day or so. Joe would work on his homework while he let Ben play around on his drum set for a while until he would eventually decide to walk home.

“Is that my sweater?”

“You left it here a couple days ago.” The sweater was at least a full size too big on Joe. Ben found it adorable.

Ben flipped through channels for several minutes, deciding to leave it on a replay of a football game from a few years back. He had opted for hanging out on Joe’s bed today rather than messing with the drums (for obvious reasons).

“Joe?” The sweet taste entered Ben’s mouth again.

“Hm?”

“Let’s go to prom.” Ben sat up, turning to face the now obviously blushing boy.

“Not really my thing.” Joe’s attention remaining on the math paper in his lap.

“No. I mean let’s go together.”

“Serious?”

“Completely serious.”

“You realize that means you’ll have to be seen in public with me.”

“I would love nothing more.” Ben ran his fingertips under the sweater, feeling Joe’s skin forming goosebumps along his waist.

Joe shook his head in agreement, loose pieces of hair falling across his forehead, something that Ben really had a soft spot for. He felt the sudden urge to kiss Joe and so he did, tasting every bit of his innocence on his lips along with the peppermint. Right on cue. Ben didn’t deserve him. He deserved someone that wouldn’t have stood back while he was being punched in the face. Joe never made him feel guilty about it, though. One more reason why Ben couldn’t help fall for him.

——

Nearly a month had passed since the first kiss. They had became more comfortable being seen together in the halls, not worried about the confused looks considering just a month earlier, Ben was never seen with anyone outside his social status. None of that mattered to him anymore now. 

They met up in the usual spot that morning, out near the front office, so Ben could walk Joe to class. Their fingertips brushed against each other’s, as they strolled down the hall, until Joe finally gathered the courage to slip his fingers in between Ben’s. Ben’s hesitancy didn’t seem of any importance to Joe, until he suddenly and without warning pulled away. Joe stopped in place in the middle of the hallway, unconcerned with the people crowding past him. Confusion swept over his face, which was soon overtaken by despondency once he saw the reason for Ben’s sudden shame: his “friends” gathered by the lockers up ahead.

“You know, if you don’t wanna be seen with me you should’ve just said so,” Joe unsuccessfully pushed back tears welling up in his eyes, as he rushed over towards the stairwell behind them.

“Joe. I swear I didn’t mean to.” He reached out in an attempt to grab Joe’s hand.

“Don’t fucking touch me.”

“Joe, wait.” Ben rushed to catch up to him, scattering “sorry’s” down the stairs with every person he shoved out of his way, “Just hold on a second. I didn’t mean to. I just- I panicked.”

Joe stopped at the foot of the stairs, staring down at the terrazzo flooring, hearing Ben catching his breath as he came up from behind. 

“Ben, those guys aren’t your friends.”

“I know that. I just-“

“Then, why do you care what they think about us?” They both stood in silence, hearing the bell ring above their heads.

“Joe, look at me. This is all new to me. The whole dating...a guy, I mean. It’s a bit intimidating. I’m gonna make mistakes, but I need you to know that you’re the only one I wanna be with. You know that, right?” Ben rubbed his thumb along Joe’s cheek, wiping away the tears that had trickled down.

“Dating?” Joe looked up through wet lashes, which Ben hated to admit made his eyes appear even more lovely.

“Are we not? I didn’t know-“

“We never actually discussed it.”

“Well. This is the worst possible timing, but... Would you want to?”

Joe couldn’t get any words out so he resorted to just nodding as he tried to unsuccessfully restrain himself from grinning like an idiot. Ben slid his hand around the back of his neck, pulling the still grinning boy in towards him, kissing him a bit more delicately than usual, afraid of moving too fast even still.

“I should probably get going,” Joe pulled away only far enough that their lips still grazed each other’s as he spoke.

Ben agreed, considering the late bell had rung over a minute ago, and headed off towards his next class, his lips craving more from the teary-eyed boy wearing his red Topman sweater. 

——

Ben pulled into the driveway to pick up Joe for the prom, even after Joe had laughed at him for wanting to drive only a quarter mile away, but there was no way he would let him walk to prom, especially in a tuxedo. He liked to think of himself as a gentleman (Joe always laughed at that claim as well).

“I hope you like it. I really wasn’t sure what flowers to get, but I knew you’d like the colors.”

Joe opened the small plastic box, pulling out a boutonnière of lavender and a single white rose Ben had handed him at the door.

“It’s perfect.” Ben pulled it out of the box and began pinning it on the boy, already getting whiffs of the lavender.

Once there, they had previously agreed to pay no attention to any judgemental looks they may get, which they found out was easier said than done. The couples picture was taken care of first thing, followed by Ben having to repin his own white orchid boutonnière several times and Joe refusing to dance to several 90s pop songs. Finally, Coldplay replaced the Brittany Spears coming from the speakers, giving Ben an opportunity to finally have his first slow dance with Joe. He grabbed at Joe’s hand sitting in his lap, feeling his chilled fingers entertwine with his own, as he pulled him up, and dragged Joe to the dance floor. Ben slid his hands along the boy’s waist, urging him closer, as Joe took a cue from the other couples around them and wrapped his arms around his dance partner’s neck, swaying in unison to the music. Joe smiled faintly, looking up at the blonde, smiling back. He leaned his head on the taller boy’s shoulder, sending up scents of lavender, roses, and peaches, the latter of which Ben had become very fond of in the last few months.

—

After the dance, Ben drove Joe home, both of which exhausted from a night of having to explain that they were each other’s dates and not just dancing together as some sort of joke.

“Call me tomorrow?”

“Of course.” Joe’s gaze scanned over his face, landing on his faintly smiling lips and suddenly feeling very brave, he leaned over the middle console and pressed his lips against Ben’s.

“You wanna come inside?” Joe pulled back, the breath liberated from him. And for once, Ben was the one at a loss words, nodding in agreement.

They made their way through the house and up the stairs as quietly as possible, Joe dragging Ben along by the hand. Once in his room, he reconnected his lips to Ben’s with an intensity even he was surprised at. Ben slipped his hands under Joe’s jacket, sliding it off and letting it fall to the floor, as they backed up towards his bed. Ben inched himself towards the center, their fingers interlacing together, as he pulled him onto the bed as well. Joe’s lips rejoined with the now slightly swollen ones across from him, while he simultaneously worked his fingers around Ben’s shirt buttons beneath him, feeling his way down, making sure he got every one. Joe sat up, straddling Ben’s lap, taking a moment to catch his breath as he ran his fingertips down the shirtless boy’s chest and onto his stomach, mentally mapping out every indention of his fair skin in the moonlit room. Ben reached up, combing his fingers through the auburn hair before cupping his hand over Joe’s cheek. Even with as little light as there was, he could feel him blushing into his hand.

“Pretty boy.” Joe’s face grew warmer. “It’s fitting.”

Joe let himself melt into Ben’s hand just as he would his eyes, turning his head just slightly, placing kisses on the palm of Ben’s hand. Joe climbed off of Ben, laying down beside him, nuzzling his head into the crook of his neck. Lavender scents floated though the air, while Joe unsuccessfully fought off sleep no thanks to Ben who was basically petting him at this point. As shallowed breaths swept across Ben’s throat, he pulled his prom date closer to him, pressed his lips against his forehead one last time that night, before falling asleep himself.


	2. Just Close Your Pretty Eyes and You Can Be With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part II of the Ben and Joe fic. Ben realizes he might be falling hard and things get a bit spicier 😏😏😏 enjoy bbys
> 
> hmu on twitter @vanilladrpeps or in the comments if you have any requests for future :)

——

“What the hell was that?” The boy with bruising knuckles had started walking away from Ben, who had yet to comprehend it all.

“You know, I really should be asking you the same thing. What have you got against him to do something like that?”

“Chill out, man. He knows we just like to mess with him. We do it all the time,” he laughed to the other guys behind him, “Probably used to it by now, anyway.”

Ben looked back towards the now empty street where Joe had gone, hoping he would still be close enough to catch up to.

“Shit,” he muttered under his breath.

“We’re gonna get going. Come if you want. Doesn’t matter to me.”

“I’ll just catch you tomorrow.” Ben headed off towards his house, still unable to get the mental image of Joe clinging onto the gate, blood beginning to run down his lip, looking up at him with pure terror on his face and even after all that, Ben still thought of him as the most gorgeous boy he’d seen.

As Ben glanced over at his boyfriend pouring them both drinks on the opposite side of the room, his silky auburn hair brushing across his forehead, he found it impossible to understand how anyone would ever treat someone as lovely as Joe so terrible, but they were about to graduate high school and be done with the teenage immaturity once they got their senior party out of the way. It took some convincing to get Joe to come, but Ben thought he’d appreciate experiencing at least one party before graduating and he seemed to be enjoying himself thus far. 

He continued keeping his eyes focused on Joe, as he peered up from the cups momentarily, searching for Ben through the crowd of unfamiliar students, his face brightening up once he caught a glimpse of the blonde who was smiling right back and it was obvious to anyone observing them- both boys were wholly and completely infatuated with one another. 

——

“Hey, princess. I haven’t seen you in a while.” Joe tensed up, recognizing the voice of the boy standing in front of him as he was picking up his drinks.

“Hey.” His fight or flight tendency lingered in the back of his mind as he forced composure over himself. “Sorry, I probably should be getting back over there,” he said gesturing to nowhere specifically, hoping to distance himself as quickly as he could.

“Back to your boyfriend? I’m sure he’ll be fine by himself for a bit. So you two dating now or is it just a hooking up on the weekends kind of thing?”

“What we do is none of your business.” Joe felt a hand slide around his waist, Ben’s familiar orange blossom scented cologne hitting his nose and suddenly he felt safe.

“Ben, it’s been a while. Me and pretty boy here were just talking about you.”

“Don’t you ever talk about him like that. Got it? Come on, Joe.”

“But he likes it. Don’t you, Joe?” He turned back to Ben. “You of all people should know that.”

His fingers pressed more firmly into Joe’s waist, signaling his growing anger and it was only seconds later that Ben’s knuckles connected with the boy’s lower jaw, knocking him back against a side table, red Solo cups scattering on the floor.

“Ben, come on,” Joe frantically tugged on the back of Ben’s shirt, as the letterman jacket student scrambled back towards them, rearing his fist back and propelling it right back towards Ben’s right eye. Joe shoved out his arms, hooking them around Ben’s for balance, slowing his inevitable fall to the ground. A fairly muscular blonde that Joe recognized from last years chemistry class easily overpowered the boy still trying to get a last swing in at Ben before being pulled off and shoved in the opposite direction.

“Are you okay?” Joe leaned down to Ben’s side, running his hand along the back of his head in an attempt to comfort him a bit.

“Yeah. Let’s just get out of here.” He grabbed onto Joe’s hand, easing himself upwards, the dizziness causing him to stumble a few steps before shoving through the gawking crowd towards the front door.

——

“There’s a Walmart around the corner. We can get you some ice there,” Joe suggested once in the car.

They drove in complete silence; Joe too afraid to set him off again and Ben unable to focus on anything but the throbbing pain coming from under his eye. 

“You shouldn’t have done that.” Joe hesitated before getting out of the car, his hand resting on the door handle.

“Are you serious? How can you expect me to do nothing when he was over there treating you like shit?” Ben took a deep breath collecting himself before continuing, “I’ve done my fair share of playing bystander. I can’t let that happen to you again.”

“Do you realize how much shittier it feels to have to stand there and watch him give you that.” Joe gestured to the red and purple markings surrounding his eye. He stared down at his lap, his eyes starting to sting from the tears welling up in his eyes. It wasn’t sadness overwhelming him so as much as frustration.

“You know I could’ve taken him,” Ben spoke after a minute.

“Yeah, because you were doing so well after that second hit.” Ben could now hear the quivering of Joe’s voice even as he tried to mask it in sarcasm, but that didn’t stop him from blurting out his response.

“Oh, fuck you.” He shook his head, immediately wishing he could take back that statement. “Sorry. I-I didn’t mean that.”

Joe shot him a look of disgust, the exact one that he had been met with the first day they walked home together. The lights from the supermarket reflected off his cheeks, as a few tears rolled down towards his chin.

“I’ll be back.” He smeared the moisture off with the palm of his hand and headed inside.

—

No more than ten minutes later, Joe was back. He climbed into the car, pulled out a frozen bag of peas and instructed Ben to tilt his head back as he carefully placed it over the bruised section of his face.

“Sorry. They didn’t have any small bags of ice, so I figured this would work for now.”

“It’s fine, thanks.” Silence quickly filled the car and not a comfortable one at that. “I’m sorry I seemed upset at you earlier. I just- I hate to see you be treated like that. I swear I wouldn’t have made you come with me if I had thought he’d be there.”

“You didn’t know. If it makes you feel any better, I was having a good time up until that point,” Joe placed his hand on Ben’s knee reassuringly, “I’ve never had anyone fight for me before, though,” Joe slid his hand from Ben’s knee slowly up his thigh at a hardly noticeable speed until he reached Ben’s most sensitive area, “and I’ll admit, it was kind of hot.”

Ben smirked, and after putting the bag of peas on the dashboard, he leaned over, pressing his lips to hazel eyed boy’s smooth jawline, alternating between swirling his tongue over the skin and sucking until a deep red mark formed. Joe responded by trailing his fingers in an up and down motion over the denim’s zipper, using different amounts of pressure each time just to tease him. Joe could tell Ben was beginning to crave more friction, as he began rolling his hips underneath his hand, his breathing becoming heavier against the smaller boy’s neck, the sounds of which sending goosebumps all over Joe.

Ben pulled back, Joe’s jawline now branded with several red and purple hickeys and hair perfectly disheveled in all the right places and suddenly he felt like he was floating. Whether the feeling was coming from the adrenaline rushing through his body or the fact that Joe’s hand was currently still sitting in his lap he wasn’t sure, but he was certain that he needed more, just not in a Walmart parking lot.

“Your house or mine?”

“Mine.”

——

Once at his house, Joe led Ben up the stairs, as he had many times previously. He yanked Ben into his room, guiding him to the bed, as his hands fumbled around with his jeans zipper once again. Ben shoved his hands up the back of his shirt, flittering his fingers down Joe’s back, feeling his breath hitch against his lips. That was his favorite part, making Joe melt against him by doing something as simple as running fingers down his back.

Ben felt the mattress hit the back of his leg, sitting himself on the edge of the bed. Joe helped him out of his jeans, before lowering to his knees, wedging himself between his now bare legs. 

“Wait.” Ben suddenly realized what they were about to do for the first time, sitting himself up on his elbows. “Are you sure?”

“Completely,” Joe looked up at him with an innocence Ben never wanted him to lose.

“I just don’t want you to feel rushed into this or anything.”

“Do you know how long I’ve been wanting to do this? Just relax,” Joe focused his gaze on Ben, “and keep your eyes on me.”

He leaned down and placed kisses along his inner thighs, keeping his eyes locked on Ben’s, while his fingers teased the edge of his boxers, beginning to slide them down his legs.

“Fuck.” Ben whispered, feeling Joe’s warm tongue suddenly sliding up his dick subsequently followed by him opening his mouth wider to allow for him to then close his lips around Ben, sinking his head lower and lower. Ben watched in adoration as he brought his head back up, a string of spit trailing from his bottom lip. Joe repeated this several more times, picking up his speed with each turn, until he could feel Ben begin to tense up underneath him, his hands gripping at the bedding below him.

“It’s okay,” Joe looked up at Ben with his soft green eyes, giving him the go ahead and as Ben was in no position to argue, he let himself go over the edge for the first time with Joe.

Ben laid still for a moment as he caught his breath, as Joe crawled into bed beside him, resting his hand on his hand, admiring how well he had done. Ben managed a slight smile, moving his hand up toward Joe, running his hand under his chin and his thumb across his lower lip.

“That’s my good boy.” His voice was raspy with sleepiness and exhaustion and he gazed upon the delicate eyed boy dreamily, realizing his innocence was still there.

——

“Smoke?” Ben settled on the roof outside the window, Joe following right behind him. Once his cigarette was lit, he slipped his lighter back into his pocket and his left hand into Joe’s, fingers intertwining as if it were the most natural thing for them.

“I’m good, thanks.” Joe had grown to love the smell as he associated it with the many times Ben and him would sit out on the roof at night, cigarette smoke wafting past his nose as they would try to point out constellations above them, most of which weren’t even constellations, but Joe appreciated Ben making an effort.

“You know, I never told you this, but,” he took a drag from the cigarette, the smoke reflecting light from the street lamps around them, “I always thought you were pretty cute.”

“How flattering,” Joe laughed quietly, turning his head in the opposite direction of Ben, trying to bite back his smile.  
Playing it cool was never his strong point.

“I don’t know if you remember, but it was the first week of school when we had to give a presentation about ourselves in economics and during yours I just kept finding myself staring at your lips, which I still find myself doing quite a bit, to be honest.” Joe looked over at him with a look of adoration and suddenly Ben felt like he was falling more and more the longer Joe’s hazel eyes sunk into him. “I was in deep even back then. I was just nervous to talk to you,” Ben leaned over, pressing a kiss to Joe’s forehead, “but I’m so glad I did.” 

And suddenly the falling was over. He hit the metaphorical sidewalk below-the realization that he had fallen in love with the boy that mysteriously smelled like peaches.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love these boys with all my heart

**Author's Note:**

> https://imgur.com/a/3kwCpDB <—- this ben! also if you look up janes wedding eastenders on youtube there’s more videos of ben dressed in the same outfit for prom


End file.
